Zé Castro

Académica

Born in Coimbra, Castro entered hometown Académica de Coimbra's youth ranks as a child, and made his Primeira Liga debut on 5 October 2003, playing the full 90 minutes in a 4–1 away loss to Porto. Despite his young age, he eventually became an undisputed starter and team captain.

Atlético Madrid

In May 2006, after unfinished advances by Portugal's Big Three, Castro signed with Spanish club Atlético Madrid on a free transfer alongside compatriot Costinha. In his first year, he benefitted from injuries to teammates, appearing in 22 La Liga matches and scoring two goals (including an 83rd-minute strike against Osasuna for the game's only goal, at home, on 20 January 2007). He featured rarely in the following season.

Deportivo

In the summer of 2008, Castro joined fellow league side Deportivo de La Coruña on a season-long loan, with the Galicians having a buyout clause of €2 million for 50% of the player's rights; the remaining 50% were owned by a company. Again due to injury – habitual starter Pablo Amo was sidelined for months with an Achilles tendon problem – the Portuguese was able to start most of the campaign, and the option was activated for a permanent move. Castro played only ten games in 2009–10, and featured even less the following season, prompting him to request a move in mid-November 2010. In March 2011, he was to be picked as a last-minute substitute for a league match against Real Sociedad after Aythami Artiles went down with…

Shortly after his debut with Académica, Castro became a defensive stalwart for the Portugal under-21s, and appeared at the 2006 UEFA European Championship on home soil. There, he played three complete matches as the team exited in the group stage, and scored an own goal in the 2–0 defeat against Serbia. On 10 June 2009, Castro finally made his full debut, in a 0–0 friendly draw in Estonia. On 10 May of the following year, in spite of a poor season at Deportivo, he was included in a provisional squad of 24 players announced by Carlos Queiroz in view of the 2010 FIFA World Cup; however, after Pepe recovered in time to participate in the competition, he was cut.

Club

As of 16 April 2017

International

Deportivo

UEFA Intertoto Cup: 2008 Segunda División: 2011–12